Sunshine + Moonlight : A great free option for streaming games to TV/iPad/phone

m0h1t

m0h1t

drinks like a fish
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If you want to play PC games on your TV and/or tablet, try Sunshine (server) and Moonlight(client). I was surprised how smooth and latency free it is.

  • I don't feel like sitting in-front of the PC after work, with this setup I can easily play on the tv with headphones at night without bothering the family.
  • Both server and client are free. Moonlight client is available for all major platforms.
  • Works really well for me, sub-5ms latency, but there are two latency causing factors here (1) Network and (2) H265 decoding. Play around with the server and client setting to optimize for your hardware.
  • On the FireTV 4K Max, decoding latency is relatively high compared to nvidia shield and apple TV 4K , its fine but its not very smooth. ~10ms on FireTV 4K Max vs ~2ms on shield and apple tv.
  • It also works with both xbox and PS5 controller with vibrations. PS5 controller is emulated via ViGEmBus as an xbox controller so the keys show up as A,B,X,Y
  • You'll need good WIFI If you want to do this wirelessly, otherwise you can do this wired, which will also be cheap.

Overview - Sunshine documentation

docs.lizardbyte.dev docs.lizardbyte.dev
github.com

GitHub - LizardByte/Sunshine: Self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight.

Self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight. Contribute to LizardByte/Sunshine development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com
github.com

Moonlight Game Streaming Project

Moonlight Game Streaming Project has 14 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
github.com github.com

My setup:
  • PC : 5600x + 3080ti (wired)
  • Clients : Apple TV 4K (802.11ax 2x2 5Ghz) and Shield 2019 Pro (802.11ac 2x2 5Ghz)
  • Network : Asus ET8 + AC86U (asuswrt merlin)
 
Last edited:
m0h1t said:
If you want to play PC games on your TV and/or tablet, try Sunshine (server) and Moonlight(client). I was surprised how smooth and latency free it is.

  • I don't feel like sitting in-front of the PC after work, with this setup I can easily play on the tv with headphones at night without bothering the family.
  • Both server and client are free. Moonlight client is available for all major platforms.
  • Works really well for me, sub-5ms latency, but there are two latency causing factors here (1) Network and (2) H265 decoding. Play around with the server and client setting to optimize for your hardware.
  • On the FireTV 4K Max, decoding latency is relatively high compared to nvidia shield and apple TV 4K , its fine but its not very smooth. ~10ms on FireTV 4K Max vs ~2ms on shield and apple tv.
  • It also works with both xbox and PS5 controller with vibrations. PS5 controller is emulated via ViGEmBus as an xbox controller so the keys show up as A,B,X,Y
  • You'll need good WIFI If you want to do this wirelessly, otherwise you can do this wired, which will also be cheap.

Overview - Sunshine documentation

docs.lizardbyte.dev docs.lizardbyte.dev
github.com

GitHub - LizardByte/Sunshine: Self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight.

Self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight. Contribute to LizardByte/Sunshine development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com
github.com

Moonlight Game Streaming Project

Moonlight Game Streaming Project has 14 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
github.com github.com

My setup:
  • PC : 5600x + 3080ti (wired)
  • Clients : Apple TV 4K (802.11ax 2x2 5Ghz) and Shield 2019 Pro (802.11ac 2x2 5Ghz)
  • Network : Asus ET8 + AC86U (asuswrt merlin)
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This is the option most switched to after Nvidia shutdown Gamestream. Sunshine is still not at the level of Gamestream but significantly better than Steam link or Parsec.
 
I tried moonlight some years back on a realme pro 2. The streaming pc had a gtx 1070.
The performance and the overall experience was superb. Viable alternative to handheld consoles.
 
Emrebel said:
I tried moonlight some years back on a realme pro 2. The streaming pc had a gtx 1070.
The performance and the overall experience was superb. Viable alternative to handheld consoles.
Click to expand...
Have tried game streaming locally multiple times and it always feels off. Streaming over WiFi, even if the PC is wired, always creates that perceptible lag. The handheld craze now is mostly because you can play PC games natively. The streaming Android handhelds have really not done well.
 
t3chg33k said:
Have tried game streaming locally multiple times and it always feels off. Streaming over WiFi, even if the PC is wired, always creates that perceptible lag. The handheld craze now is mostly because you can play PC games natively. The streaming Android handhelds have really not done well.
Click to expand...
I have only tried single player games like Ryse: Son of Rome. Maybe that’s why I was fine with it.
What games have you tried with it?
 
Thanks for this. I didn't know this existed. I really need this so that I can play in my AC bedroom when the weather is hot. My gaming PC is in the drawing toom connected to TV and there's no AC there.

Will give it a try tomorrow itself.
 
Emrebel said:
I have only tried single player games like Ryse: Son of Rome. Maybe that’s why I was fine with it.
What games have you tried with it?
Click to expand...
It has been months but it was probably Forza. The latency would probably in few tens of milliseconds, so probably wouldn't be a problem for most.
 
t3chg33k said:
It has been months but it was probably Forza. The latency would probably in few tens of milliseconds, so probably wouldn't be a problem for most.
Click to expand...
With sunshine and moonlight, if latency is 8-10ms then either the hardware is not good or not optimised. I have it running at 3-5ms.

edit: I meant locally. Multiplayer or remote would certainly add more latency.
 
Not just great for gaming, you can use your tablet as secondary touch display.

Screenshot 2023-07-10 115525.png
 
gourav said:
This sounds interesting, can you give some details on how you did this?
Click to expand...
Hi @gourav and @Emrebel

If your intention is to simply duplicate your PC display on the Moonlight client, you can easily achieve that without any additional steps. However, if you prefer to utilize your Moonlight client as a secondary (extended) display with a customized resolution that matches the client's resolution, you can refer to the below guide:

1. Creating virtual monitor with custom resolution - follow part 1 and 2
2. Adding new app for auto adding and removing virtual monitor when the moonlight client starts and ends session.
3. Make sure the virtual monitor is set as primary monitor.
1689093185324.png

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1689093136158.png
 
There is a way to make 2 people use single CPU like 2 different CPUs, with Parsec.

for example: one user trading / browsing on monitor and 2nd user streaming games / editing videos on TV over LAN / Internet simultaneously but both using resources from same CPU.

For this to work with minimal lag you need:

1) Processor powerful than 4th Gen i7 and atleast 16GB RAM
2) A good graphics card depending on gaming/editing needs (atleast GTX 1060 or RX 570)
3) Any PC / Laptop / Phone that runs Parsec (sadly Android TV OS /MiBox / TV Sticks dont support Parsec)
4) Dummy HDMI plug (available at Amazon)
5) ibik Aster license ( this is available on 15 days trial period)
6) Parsec + Parsec account
7) Broadband for Remote streaming and Dual band router for Local Streaming
8) Extra Keyboard & Mouse for 2nd user

Because of lag, this setup is not suitable for competitive FPS games . Let me know if anyone is interested. I`ll make a guide.
 
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